People's Forum, City Council, School Board Battles: is the HOA set ok?
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3 weeks out from election day, ballots are out, and Glendale's wannabe politicos are using a wide array of tactics to attract voters...
HOAs FEEL ATTACKED BY THE THE PEOPLE'S FORUM
A coalition of local progressive groups hosted a People's Forum for City Council Candidates Monday evening. Although the event advertised that all candidates were invited, only three showed: incumbents Elen Asatryan and Dan Brotman, and the third on their progressive slate, newcomer Alek Bartousof. Social media coverage shows a packed room and the forum included questions that were not asked at the many HOA sponsored forums according to the redditors of Glendale.
Event organizers included empty chairs for the non-attendees-- an effective visual message that made clear who had skipped the forum. However, this had to have been proof of malicious intent according to one baffling candidate!
Empty chairs are discrimination and a blog is a hate group and also there is a conspiracy of parents? ok.
Area newsletter crank Mike Mohill also "covered" the forum, but he did not attend. Mohill claimed the 9 absent candidates "boycotted" an opportunity to speak to South Glendale residents. Readers, take note of those aligned with the octogenarian ranter.
ARA NAJARIAN IS STILL PETTY
Tuesday's city council meeting featured the Mohill contingent mad as usual. About what? Unclear.
Ara Najarian is finally ending his two-decade reign of bigotry and power-grubbing (for now). Because he is a petty bitch who lives for drama, during council member comments he promised "a new segment" of the remaining meetings til we're free from his shiny red presence.
Ara is calling the new segment "Ara's Exposés" because of course he is. He says he will be disclosing "secrets" and also "answering questions" from the public. GEN has one: why are you so obsessed with us?
SUSAN WOLFSON WILL DECIDE HOW MUCH PARENTAL LEAVE IS TOO MUCH. WEIRDOS HAVE FUN WITH AI SLOP.
Also at city council a member of the HOA slate, Susan Wolfson, made allegations about her opponent, city clerk Suzie Abajian. Wolfson claimed she'd learned from public records that Abajian had taken off more time than Wolfson felt she should. Council members Gharpetian and Najarian piled on in what looks like an attempt at electioneering during a public meeting (both Najarian and Gharpetian endorsed Wolfson).
Throughout the campaign, Abajian has faced numerous drummed up allegations of impropriety during public meetings from Wolfson and her HOA allies, amplified by Najarian and Gharpetian. These are then promoted by the AI slop filled social media accounts that appear to be their primary campaign outreach:
Drag is bad except when it's a local realtor doing it to fight residents in facebook groups!
Speaking of Susan: it seems she has her own impulse-control issues. At a previous city council meeting she is reported to have gotten so upset with a local pro-housing advocate that she kicked the back of his chair like an i-pad deprived toddler.
GLENDALE SCHOOL BOARD RACES: LOKA'S LAST GASP?
The last big political event this week was the GUSD school board trustee forum. Glendale's school board has been the target of far right reactionaries who hate public schools for years now. Since the violent riots back in 2023 and two cycles of losses by obviously extremist candidates, today's right wing candidates have tried to moderate somewhat talking less about "woke" and more about test scores and how things "used to be."
To that end, the conservative candidate slate includes:
Greg Krikorian speaks in 3rd person and was already on the board for 20+ years, but thinks he should get another shot to be GUSD's daddy.
Debbie Blute, a blonde Republican, did not show up for the forum.
Janet Balekian, sister of reactionary candidate Alex Balekian, appears to think she can run on his backdraft of fake utility promises and even faker "family values."
In advance of the forum local reactionary accounts attempted to smear progressive candidate Aileen Dinkjian for her advocacy for trans youth at a recent Burbank Moms for Liberty event featuring far right candidate for state superintendent Sonja Shaw.
Viral right wing accounts filmed Dinkjian loudly speaking up against Shaw's waste of taxpayer money ($4 million!) and the harms she has caused to Chino Valley USD and threat she poses to LGBTQ+ youth statewide. The incident did not come up at the forum but does reveal the ongoing close ties between Glendale's reactionary extremists and the regional, state, and national network they are part of.
The attempt to use Dinkjian's protest for viral rightwing bait revealed a new player in local politics to watch out for: candidate for assembly district, former Miss America and current member of the local grievance and hate-fueled political scene, Carolyn Sapp Daniels. Daniels attended the Moms for Liberty Event in Burbank as well as a forum hosted by the La Crescenta Women's Club that featured her alongside Janet Balekian, Debbie Blute, Beth Brooks, alleged child abuser Adam Vena, America First/Groyper Dennis Feitosa, and other long-shot right wing candidates for office.
All the photoshop, AI filters, false promises about utility bills and coded language about "neighborhood character" or "traditional values" can't disguise the retrograde demands and visionless promises of the reactionary right. Vote accordingly.